How to Rent an Apartment in Lisbon

If you want to find an apartment in Lissabon, prepare to be frustrated…and to shell out some dough. Lisbon is no longer the cheap place to live. Due to its gorgeous climate and everyone gushing about how amazing it is, it is no longer a value when it comes to housing. I did a lot of work before I found my rental in Lisbon and I am currently working on finding one to purchase. These are some of the tips I have learned along the way.

How to Rent an Apartment in Lisbon

A complete guide on how to find and how to rent an apartment in LisbonThe market is hot and getting hotter by the minute. Although the average salary in Portugal is €600 and in Lisbon €850, ein 1 bedroom apartment will easily cost you an average of €1000. There is a YOLO attitude right now among Lisbon’s property owners. Prices listed are rendonculous…seriously! Basically, this means you either need to be ready to drop big cash for a place you love, or have tons of patience and wait until you find a deal. How crazy are prices? Here’s an example:

2015: T3 €1300 monthly rent

2017: T3 €1750+ monthly rent

2018: T3 €2000+ monthly rent

When to Start Searching for an Apartment in Lisbon

If you’re planning your move way ahead of time, don’t bother. The market is hot and realtors won’t deal with you unless you’re in Lisbon and ready to make a deal. Why? Realtors in Lisbon are the owner’s agents. They have no fiduciary duty to you, so they just want to get deals done as easily and quickly as possible. Hier, the landlord or seller is the one that pays the agency’s fee. Many landlords will choose not to work with agencies so that they don’t have to pay the fee since it’s pretty steep. Landlords pay one or two rental months AND 23% tax. Because of this, when owners do use realtors, they are looking for longer-term renters (2-5 years)

My recommendation to you is that you rent an Airbnb flat for 1-2 months and begin the search the first week you arrive. And this is true all over Portugal…Algarve, Sintra, Porto…you name it the realtors are not on your side. They will “help” you, but they are not your agent.

Idealista is one of many websites you can use to find apartment rentals in Lisbon

Sicher, you can go to a realtor…but as I mentioned above, they’re not your agents. Damit, if you do; feel free to work with as many realtors as possible. If you find a good one though…treasure him or her because they are hard to find. There are many websites where you can begin the search. These are all the websites I used when finding my apartment rental in Lisbon.

BPI Expresso – Fairly easy to use. Not as many listings as other sites.

BQuarto – This is more of a social network where people match up with landlords. Not my favorite.

Casa – Holey raucht, this site is ugly…but it is updated frequently and has a good selection of listings.

NIF – You need to have the Portuguese Fiscal Number. You get this at the AT

Deposit – Most landlords ask for 2 month’s deposit (1st and last month as well as a security deposit).

Warrantor – If you aren’t legally in Portugal yet (example – waiting for your first SEF appointment) you may need a Portuguese fiador.

We rented directly from the owner. We found our apartment on Idealista after many searches. The signing of the lease was easy. We didn’t have a NIF or any Portuguese documentation, but Portuguese landlords love renting to foreigners…basically, because we can and will pay more than locals. We are also considered a safer investment for them. If you don’t have your documents and you don’t have a Portuguese warrantor, just offer to pay 6 months in advance. That will clinch the deal.

What is in Your Rental Contract

Rental contracts in Lisbon are pretty simple (sometimes). We passed up on a gorgeous flat because we did not like the rental contract. Your rental contract will include:

Length of lease

lease review date

How long you need to let the landlord know if you won’t renew

Full name, nationality, DOB and marital status of both parties

Whether the contract is either open-ended or fixed-term

Open-Ended vs Fixed Term

It is better for the tenant to have an open-ended lease in Lisbon. Let’s look at the why:

Open Ended Lease – This means the lease is automatically renewed. In diesem Fall, the landlord can only increase the rent amount yearly in accordance to the index % for the cost of living increases. Historically, this has been between 1 & 2%. With this type of lease, your landlord/lady cannot terminate the contract to craft a new one to increase your rent. If you can land one of these, you’re golden.

Fixed Term: This type of lease states the end of your lease. Say, beispielsweise, a two-year lease. Your landlord/lady can raise your rent if you want to extend the lease. If you’re not sure that you want to stay in an apartment forever, this could be the way to go, but beware that the owner of the property can increase your rent as much as they want. A friend of ours landed her place at €900 for a 5-year lease. We did 2 years and wish we would have agreed on a longer contract.

Rental Receipts

Your landlord is required by law to give you receipts for your rent payments. This signifies that they are filing taxes with Financas. They get hit with a 24% tax rate on the rent you pay them. When you’re signing your lease, ask your potential landlord about these receipts and how you will get them.

Your landlord can increase your rent only once a year from the start of the contract. Both you and the landlord must agree to the increase. The increase is minimal (and capped) and you must get 30 days notice. This is usually 1%. HOWEVER…if your contract is ending, they can increase the rent as much as they want, so if you find a deal, sign for at least 3 Jahre.

Cessation of Rent Continuation

It’s pretty hard for a landlord to kick you out. Here are the reasons your landlord can decide not to continue a lease:

If the landlord is moving back in

If they are renovating and already have permission from the city

They must give 120-day advance notice if your lease has been in place for more than one year

or 60-days in advance of the expected termination, if your lease has been in place for less than one year

Rental Contract Cancellation

You’re late on the rent for 3 Monate

You’re using the unit illegally

You make structural changes the landlord does not agree with

You sublet partially or fully without their permission

You get more than 20% on your rent from sublet

You don’t use your apartment

PRO TIP: This is something we found out much later from when we signed our lease. Prior to moving into your new rental property, make sure that you have registered your lease with the Finance office and that your NIF is attached to it. If that was not done, get a lawyer to assist you with the process of setting this right.

We love living in Lisbon and are bummed that we didn’t move here sooner. If you have questions about renting an apartment in Lisbon or any other aspect of Lisbon living, lassen Sie es in den Kommentaren.

14 Comments

Thanks for the information. I am visiting Lisbon with the idea of moving here and want to rent ideally a 2BR apt. with balcony and modern appliances. I was told that Santos doesn’t have all the renovation construction that my area near Marques de Pombal area has. I have moved twice already due to noise since I am a writer and brought some work with me. Is that pretty much it or are there other affordable neighborhoods e.g. Campo Ourique that you recommend without all the construction noise? I was hoping to spend max 700 Euros a month on rent and saw some places in that range on Craig’s List.

It is our pleasure Christine. Santos is lovely, but you are correct. Because most of the buildings are older, even when they are remodeled and have all the modern appliances, there are issues with plumbing and structure. You will find more modern, newer apartments in the Marques de Pombal area.Campo Ourique is definitely not affordable, it is actually one of the most inflated neighborhoods when it comes to pricing. 700 per month on rent will be tough in the center of the city, especially for a 2 Schlafzimmer. 2 bedrooms start at 1k. Be careful with Craigslist listings, they are often scams. Santos is very hot right now, so plenty of construction there. For quiet, you may want to look at Amoreiras or Alvalade, but you never know where construction is going to come up.

Hi Nicole. Here it’s the owner that pays the fee. So keep in mind that the realtor is not your agent. aber, most landlords require first & last month and a guarantor. If you don’t have a guarantor, offering to pay a few months up front usually helps 😉

Realtors in Lisbon work for the owner, so keep in mind that they have no duty to you. Einige sind groß, others – not so much. Mostly, they just want to close deals to get their fee which is usually one or two rental months AND 23% tax. Because of this, when owners do use realtors, they are looking for longer-term renters (2-5 years). Look for by owner listings on Idealista. You’ll be able to bargain with them since they’re not paying the fee 🙂

Fantastic article, Blanca. Thanks for sharing your experience and expertise. My wife and I would be moving from the US. Our credit is just OK. Not terrible, not great, just OK. Will that be a problem? Do landlords run you through Transunion and Experian and the big credit agencies for extensive credit checks? We’ve been excellent renters w/our current landlord, if that offsets the credit reports at all. What do you think? Thanks so much! –Tex

Credit is not much of an issue (we’ve never been asked for it). You will just need to prove that you have the means. Most landlords here require a fiador (a Portuguese local to vouch for you) but with most foreigners, if you pay 3-5 months of rent ahead of time they’re pretty happy with that.

Glad you liked it. There were two things. The outside area that was “part” of the apartment was not in the lease. It was a part of the building but not the apartment. The neighbors had set theirs up quite nicely and the realtor told us we could use the common area as ours, but I don’t like taking chances with leases. The second was that they would not write into the lease that we could have a dog. This was before we knew everything we know now. Insgesamt, I’m thrilled with my place and we feel it was the right choice. Happy apartment hunting 🙂

Such great info Blanca! I’ll be using all of this in the coming week! I’m an American and I want to rent an apartment until mid-October. I wasn’t planning on setting up a Portuguese bank account since it’s only 2.5 Monate. My question is – how would you recommend I pay my rent? I’m willing to pay it all at once, but can I do a money transfer from an American bank?

Hi Phil, you can ask your landlord if they will accept Paypal (ours did while we got all our stuff lined up), just do your research to make sure your landlord is legit. I’ve heard of people transferring money and getting scammed.

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About Me

My name is Blanca and I run a few startups called FriendsEAT und Socialdraft. I travel alot. I have lived in 10+ countries and visited over 30+. Currently I live in Lisboa, Portugal. You can follow my thoughts and experiences on this blog. Hope to hear from you.